FREERIDE

Freeride Programs

The FreeRide (FR) program provides an instruction and team based environment to ride Mt.Hood’s unique terrain, parks and off-piste obstacles for riders age 11-16. Small groups of riders will work with experienced and trained staff through an individually tailored progression of skills to develop each athlete’s freeriding and carving abilities. Using CSAT’s knowledgeably and enthusiastic staff, CSAT’s FreeRide programs are designed to produce well-rounded all mountain skiers in and out of the park

Our FR Junior Development teams are designed for children 11-16 yrs of age and offer four (4) program options based on age, ability, and time commitment. Ages referenced are determined by skiers age on Dec. 31, 2019. All Freeride training occurs at Meadows Ski Area, but is dependent on snow and lift-operating conditions.

FreeRide Development Team – Ages 11 -14

Our ‘Devo Team’ program is our entry level program for ages 11-14 which starts with the FR Cooper Camp, Dec 28-30, and skis every Saturday, January through mid March. This program is designed for the child who skis the park and pipe, but wants further instruction on the basic skills and techniques that will enable them to become a more technically sound park skier. In the Devo program, focus is on fun, learning a progression of basic tricks and risk assessment skills that create confident and responsible riders. Development team members can participate in the Meadows’s Saturday night Rail Jams if they are interested, coaching will be provided.

FreeRide Training Team Sat & Sunday – Ages 11-16

Our Training Team requires more commitment and is designed for the 10-16 year old athlete who wants to take their skills to the next level and start to compete, or at least think about starting to compete. This training team skis on both Saturdays and Sundays starting in mid December.

On-snow training focuses on all aspects of freeriding including slopestyle, halfpipe, and all-mountain freeriding skills. Riders are taught contest run design, competition strategies, and sportsmanship. Riders are encouraged to compete, but not required. Coaching will be provided at most competitions, details on this will come out once the competition schedule is posted. Riders are grouped with others of similar age and ability.

FreeRide Training Team Sat & Wednesday Night – Ages 11-16

The same concept as the above Training Team, but designed for athletes who want one weekend day to themselves. This team skis every Saturday and Wednesday evenings.

*Coaching travel costs at USASA National will be split among participants

FreeRide Junior Competition Team – Ages 11-16

The FR Junior Competition Team is our highest level team in the Junior FR program. The Comp team is a goal-oriented program for motivated riders who want to train and compete for local, regional and national level competitions.

The Competition FR Ski Team riders train with professional coaches to improve their freestyle riding while learning the fundamentals of freeride competition and all mountain skiing. On-snow training focuses on all aspects of freeriding including slopestyle, halfpipe, and all-mountain freeriding skills. Riders are taught contest run competition strategies, visualization skills, goal setting and sportsmanship. Coaching will be provided at competitions, Saturday, Sunday, Wednesday evenings, and on days Hood River schools are not in session (non-contract days, MLK day, President’s Day, etc). Riders are grouped with others of similar age and ability.

Training days: Saturday and Sunday 9am-3pm, plus one Wednesday training night midweek, 4:30pm-7:30pm at Mt. Hood Meadows, some Hood River non-contract days depending on training and competition schedule. Night training will start in December 18th through mid March.

FreeRide Results

Date

Event

Results

04.09.19

Skiercross USASA Nationals

Thorsen Welch - 3rd

2019 FreeRide FALL DRYLAND – AGES 10 – 16

FreeRide dryland utilizes trampoline training and artificial snow infrastructure to improve aerial awareness and rail technique. Trampoline training, in addition to aerial awareness, will increase leg and core strength, flexibility, and cardiovascular health meaning greater resistance to injury while being able to ride harder and longer. Dryland training is highly recommended for all Freeride Team members ages 10 and up.

New for this year Dryland Training will consist of two tiers; the first being a group that meets once a week called Devo Team. This group is intended for the younger or newer riders who are looking to get used to spinning, twisting, and who are progressing towards flips. We will start small and train with air awareness exercises and progress up from there. We will also get used to the dry-slope ramps and work on basic box slides, aiming to progress toward rail slides. This is a fun way to get ready for the winter season!

The second group meets twice a week and is aimed for the older and / or more experienced riders, called the Training Team. Recommended ONLY for athletes who are already comfortable performing basic trampoline flips and twists such a backflip and a misty 540. This is intended for the training team and competition team members. Here we will work on higher level trampoline tricks, twists and flips, and both haptic and optic awareness. We will also use the dry-slope to train rail tricks.

Each practice consists of a 1.5 hour training session. Devo Team members meet every Tuesday, 4pm-5:30pm, starting Tuesday, October 29th, 2019. Competition and Training Team members will meet Tuesday and Thursday, 4pm-5:30pm, starting Thursday, October 24th, 2019.

The Details

When:

Devo: Tuesdays starting October 29th – December 10th.

Training: Tuesdays and Thursdays starting October 24th – December 12th

Where: 4326 Riordan Hill Drive, Lisa Stevenson’s farm. Bus from Hood River’s middle school can provide transportation to dryland. Bus drops off at house around 3:50PM.

What to Bring: Tennis shoes, water, healthy snack, workout clothes, boots/skis/poles, helmet, and mouth guard. Also please be aware of the weather and dress appropriately with warm clothes and rain gear.

FreeRide Calendar

Coaching Staff

Joe Johnson

Head FreeRide Coach

Joe Johnson comes to the Pacific Northwest from the cold lands of northern Minnesota, where he started skiing at age 6 and riding the park shortly thereafter. Joe has been competing in USASA sanctioned events since age 13 and moved to Breckenridge CO after high school to ski the Rockies and experience true mountain resort culture.

After exploring the Colorado’s many parks and mountains Joe returned to college in Minnesota and began coaching Freeride at his local ski area. He coached both the advanced and junior level freeride teams, where he later became the lead coach for the junior team. Joe has extensive experience in terrain park management where he was the terrain park manager for Spirit Mountain, in Duluth, MN. Here he got an in depth look at progression models of terrain, terrain park etiquette, and rider communication.

Joe loves the freedom and creativity of freeride and is excited to share his passion of the sport with the next generation! When not skiing, Joe can always be found outdoors with friends and family enjoying many great activities such as hiking, mountain biking, camping, fishing, swimming and walking on the occasional slackline!

Ryan Heitsmith

Training Team Coach

Ryan spent his formative years skiing the sometimes-snowy, but more often icy mountains of New England. He focused primarily on competitive mogul skiing, but also racked up several starts at slopestyle, halfpipe, and rail jam competitions across the Northeast. Now-a-days he can mostly be found hunting powder and hot lapping the park, but will never hesitate to ski a good zipperline. Ryan began coaching freestyle skiing in 2011 for the Okemo Mountain Freestyle Team in Vermont. Here he assisted competitors of all ages in Moguls, halfpipe and slopestyle in both USSA and USASA sanctioned events. He moved to Oregon in 2018 to pursue his career while also chase snowflakes and adventuring. This will be his first full season coaching the Cooper Spur Race Team. He looks forward to working with all of the athletes to develop their skills on snow, on rails, and in the air.

Eric Treusch

Devo Team Coach

Eric was raised in the suburbs of Detroit, MI. He attended Northern Michigan University in the beautiful Upper Peninsula of Michigan. While attending college at Michigan State he ski instructed at the local ski hill. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in Outdoor Recreation Leadership Management he made the move to Oregon in search of new adventures. He began teaching skiing at Mt. Hood Meadows where he was award 2010 Part-Time Instructor of the Year and Children’s Instructor of the Year in 2011. Eric than began taking his skill and passion for teaching into the realm of freestyle. Erick is a PSIA Level 3 FreeRide Specialist and a PSIA Level 2 Child Specialist. Eric has applied his years of ski-instruction knowledge to break down freestyle movements into multi-step progressions perfect for freeriders of all ages.

Joe Blount

Freeride Coach

Joe Blount is an avid park skier who has learned to perfect his style, technique, and tricks. In his never-ending pursuit for shred he has learned a passion for the sport he is excited to share with the youth of freesking. Joe is a Mechanical Engineering Student in Portland and spends every moment he can skiing on Mt Hood. He is excited to be apart of Cooper Spur and Cooper Spur Alpine Team is honored to have him on board!

FreeRide – New Parents

New Parent Meeting

Every fall CSAT holds a Parent Informational Meeting for the FreeRide program (Competition, Training and Development Teams). This meeting is for the parents of all Freeride participants, including Race and Ride program athletes. We stronglyencourage all parents to attend, as getting everyone on the same page is essential for a safe and successful year . The FreeRide Head Coach and Program Director will outline mountain rules and safetyprotocols, freestyle progressions, competition schedules, parent and athlete code of conduct, training schedules, communication protocol, as well as answer any questions.

The 2019/20 FreeRide parent meeting will be held on Thursday November 14th at 6PM. The meeting location TBA.

What Equipment to Buy – Basic Guidelines

EQUIPMENT INFORMATION

SKIS:

Twin-tip skis are required for this program as we ski both forwards and backwards (known in the freeride world as skiing ‘switch’). Park specific skis are balanced and weighted in a way that allows the ski to feel balanced in the air, while spinning, and on rails. It is nice to have the edges underfoot detuned and dulled for athletes planning on jibing and sliding rails. Ski lengths should be between eyebrow and forehead height. A narrower park width is also recommended as it will make for more efficient spinning and jumping. Largely because our athletes weigh less due to their age, friction plays a greater role, hence waxing and maintaining your athletes skis throughout the season is important and highly recommended. If you have any questions on skis or purchasing skis, please contact the coaching staff.

BOOTS:

A soft flexing boot is recommended for athletes and will be more effective than a stiff boot for park skiing. To determine if a boot is soft enough for your child, they should be able to aggressively flex the boot. A boot that’s too stiff or on the stiffer side is no fun to jump in as it leads to shin bang. As far as fit, boots should fit properly, tight but not uncomfortable. Remember the boots might feel too tight at first but will break in within a couple of ski days. Buying boots oversized is counter productive for both performance and fit. Buy boots that fit properly and check with your coaches if you have any questions about your child’s equipment.

BINDINGS:

Park specific bindings are recommended and safer for athletes as they allow more release points from the ski. Toe-pieces always release left or right, but in park bindings they can also release upwards. And compared to a traditional heel-piece that only releases upwards, certain brands of park bindings also release side to side in the heel. This is much safer for skiers knees, which is easily worth the price tag that they may come with. Din must also be appropriate for a skiers height and weight. This exact info is best provided by a qualified boot-fitter and can also be found online.

POLES:

Poles are a necessary and fundamental part of freeride skiing, especially while riding off-piste. On CSAT Freeride we require poles when riding powder and recommend them in the park, but they are not required there. For off-piste skiing poles should be a proper length, placing the arm in a 90 degree bend, and / or making the forearm parallel to the ground when holding the pole. For riding park a shorter length pole is recommended. Adjustable poles are great for skiers who do both park and powder.

NIGHT TRAINING Equipment:

It is very important if you are training at night that you wear goggles with a clear lens. Dark lenses or goggles meant for daytime skiing are not effective at night and can not only hinder training but can even make it dangerous when skiing if they cannot see properly. Night training is often colder, so remember to wear extra layers at night. All of these things will make for a more enjoyable skiing experience.

OTHER:

Clothing should include water resistant gloves or mittens (an extra pair is nice for those wet days), race helmet and goggles. A good water repellent ski jacket is necessary in this climate (consider a CSRT “Team” jacket) having rain gear on hand at training can also come in handy.. We ski in all weather conditions, so dress appropriately.

Helmets

USSA approved Ski Helmets are mandatory for all training and racing. It is required that racers wear their helmets at all training and races. No exceptions.

VOLUNTEER REQUIREMENT

Volunteerism is the cornerstone of our team. Like most youth athletic organizations, there are several ways you can help with opportunities to assist at various team functions, both on and off the hill. There are jobs for both skiers and non-skier parents. In addition, the organization has several fundraising opportunities. Without the help of parent volunteers, the cost of administering CSAT programs, races, and events would be considerable higher. We have a volunteer agreement and deposit required at registration.

The volunteer coordinator will send out a “Volunteer Opportunity” google link via email 2-3 weeks prior to the race or event. The email will have details about the upcoming event and a link to a google doc that allows you to sign up for volunteer positions. To sign up you will need a google email address and be signed into your google email account.